Drag conveyer and belt



Sept 1l 1934- P. J. BIRKMEYER 1 973,041

DRAG CONVEYER AND BELT Filed Aug. 27. 1932 /N VENTO/e P. J. BlRKMEYER .A TTORNE y latented Sept.

UNITED DRAG ooNvsYEa am) BELT Paul J. Birkmeyer, Brooklyn, N. Y., assigner to The Western Union Telegraph Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 27, 1932, Serial No. 639,735 11 claims. (c1. 19a-16o) This invention relates to belt conveyers of the drag type and patricularly to belts for this type of conveyer.

An object of this invention is to provide a conveyer belt for drag type conveyors having a a support for cooperating with a conveyer belt which has a face embodying longitudinally extending areas having a relatively high Goemcient of friction with respect to the material to be conveyed and bordered by other areas having a relatively low coeicient of friction with respect to the support, the support having raised portions arranged to engage the portions of the face of the belt having a low coefficient of fricstion.

A further object of this invention is to provide a conveyer embodying a belt, the body of which is composed of a material best suited for tensile lstrength and a minimum resistance as it travels :along a cooperating support, and a material',

vided with recesses which have sufficient clearance to permit the longitudinally extending belt strips to ride free of engagement with the trough as the belt travels therealong.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical conveyer in its simplest form embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a conveyer belt and trough taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a modified form of conveyer belt and trough; and c Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a fragmentary portion showing another form of this invention.

Drag conveyers of the type involving a support member usually of a trough shape having a bottom and outwardly extending side portions along which a belt travels in frictional engagement therewith are .now being quite extensively employed for conveying sheet material, particularly, sheets employed for telegrams, messages and the like. In this type of conveyer thematerial is dragged along the support, ordinarily a pressed sheet metal member, by the belt due to the fact that the coeicient of friction between the belt and the sheets of material is greater than that between the support and the material. In

this arrangement, the material can be conveyed .g

over considerable distances and in .various di--r rections either horizontally or vertically vat relatively high speeds. In such an arrangement, message carriers such as employed in pneumatic tubes are not necessary. The sheets of material travel openly along the conveyer support b'ey tween the support and the belt.

Some difficulty has been experienced, however, in this type'of conveyerjwith regard to the sheets of material stopping along the, conveyer channel. When the'` sheetv material to be conveyed consists of'telegraph blanks difculty frequently results from glue from the telegram blank sticking to the channel. Messages of this type employing glue comprise a message blank to which the message in the formof a tape on which the printing occurs is glued. In applying the tape to the blank glue ron the Atapej is moist.- ened and sections of the tape arranged on the blank and pressed down. Sometimes in the gluing process a slight amount of moisture which has absorbed glue is deposited on the blank along the edges of the tape. 1 In conveying these blanks along the conveyer channels someY of,A

this soft glue is deposited on the channels cansing the same to become sticky. This sometimes causes the messages to adhere to. the sticky channels and allows the belt to slide over them.'v

AnotherV cause for the sheets sticking to the channels may be due to dirt or grease particles deposited on the channel members from the belt as it slides Iover the same. These deposits increase the friction' between the channels and the sheet until the frictiony of the channel becomes equal or greater than that of the belt which again causes the belting to Slide over the blanks.

Another cause which sometimes delays the sheets is due to the accumulation of static charges on the sheets or blanks. This chargev builds up until theblanks adhere to the channeluntil they are carried forward-by a roughened portion of the conveyed surface of the belt oruntil a succeeding message blank engages the same carrying it along the channel.

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telegraph service where speed is essentialyany arrangement overcoming the tendency for tele-u graph messages to adhere tothe' conveyer channels is Very desirable. It has Ybeen found, belting with a rubber surface ori a vsurface `-of relatively high rubber content provides a surface of high resistance to motion or slidingein contact with paper, in other words it"`h'as a high coeiieient of friction with respect to plper. coefiicient of friction" has been 'fou'n'dto be manyftim'e's the coeihcient" betweenfp'ap'er and metal. 'o rtther' suitable material employed 2,5; as a support 'for drag csviflv'eyers."` The coefficient o'fthe'frictionbetween'iubber aindpaprmissuch an amount' as Yto Carry'shefets VSLlCh "as telegram blanks'fovr a"su`pp'ort, whichis relatively rough or which" has 'become4 srr'iewhatl sticky or dirty diie tofsrnall amounts of'A glue adhering thereto. 'Hewevef when ja beit' havifig a 'rubberk surface is employed in 'dragconveyers the "friction be'-v tvi'f'ienx thel `bel`tand'.I the" 'support becomes" quite considerable." causes therubber to heat lib and' lvifear off, rapidly'and even deposits itself an, the' @dni/eier' "support" when 'traveling 'at relatively' high speed; The, pWCl, 'required is increases. considerably, als "The, p'cwefj 're- .n o theabelt, with o .v .,.t thesp; to; utilize 'a Strage. 0r. Surface c nterit iislriiclfi travels in frictijorial', Contact l ding tothis invention, howeyter, `a type of n., belt p V which'embodies' longitudinally extending s ips( orE arealsfof 'rubber or" rubber izedy sur, 'ice along thebeltborderedby areasof ially tigslamfs effcias a rSirlpl,rubber belt wbilgihs areas .engaging the, Support are 4f material. haring..relativelyilow.coefcient of. fric.-

g tion'. FprLfurther,description,ofthisinvention reference will. be had? tol the accompanying drawing. l'Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the

preferred form 'o'f"the`inve'r1tion -is"illiistrated. IVe-(impiega a belgio embodying' a bedypgr; i rsiiiiajcoit result from the strips coming in contact 'thereare secured to the conveying face of the belt and are spaced apart transversely of the belt to leave longitudinal extending exposed portions 13 between the strips and at the outer sides thereof.

The belt is arranged to travel in a trough or support member 141k embodying a bottom 15 and outwardly flaring side members 16. A pair of upstanding ribs 1'7 rise froml the bottomof the trough to engage the inner exposed belt bcdy portions 13. The exposed portions of the outer edges of the belt engage the side members 16. The .trough is arranged so that the raised portions, that is, the sides 16 and ribs 17, provide a clearance between the applied strips 12 and the bey of thet'roi'ighl so that the strips ride entirely free of the trough as the belt travels therealong, preventing, Vthehigh friction and the collection of the rubber on the trough which would with. The sides of the trough dueto their inclined shape provide ay lateral guide for the belt which tends' to prevent the same from swaying or sliding sidewise and, bringing the strips 12 into contact with the vsupporting portion74V of the trough. e f .n

Although rubber or rubber composition material is preferred for the strips 12, they may be composed of any material which has a relatively highy coefficient of frictionY with respect to the materialvtobe conveyed. Various types of rubber composition material may be 'applied to the face of 'the belt. It has been found that ya rubber composition known commercially ask crepe rub er hasq'uahties which are verydesirable for conveying certaintypes of sheet material. This type of'rjubber' composition'while it may not be adapted foruniversal use, will be found of partisular advantage where its application is desirable.l In most cases a very small thickness of ,115 theimaterial deposited on the face of the belt is sumcient'. The thickness of the material would be determined largely by the type ofv sheets to be conveyed and the 4necessity for pressingthe sheets,downwardlysomewhat into the clearance 12() spaces of i the channel to cause the desired amount of engagement with the high frictional portion of the belt surface. The number of strips applied tothe belt may be ,variedalso The support or trough member ink which the', 125 belt travels is usually a pressed steel or similar member embodying yrib portions in thebotto-m to form the belt engaging ridges or runners. The engaging surface of the ribs is` preferably narrow inforderto minimize the friction between the belt andthe trough andralso. between sheet mau terial vand the trough asit travels therealong.

This invention may be employed in arclonveyer system such as illustratedin Fig. 1 in simplified form'- In this` arrangement the support member 14 is attened out at the extreme end adjaci-ntl beltroller 18. The flat section of the support may serve` either as an inlet ordisharge. When serving as an inlet the material may bewinserted between thel lipof the latseeton and thern'ov ing belt and carried upward until it is engaged bythe belt. Thematerial thenl moves forward alongthe support: 14,v iii-a Vertical direction in theV illus,tration,l until it: arrives near` the point' of cha'ge O fjdir'ection fromfvertical'tohorizontal. 145

b1. werden Thisperinitsnie, sheets @material te 1,591

interveningY recesses or grooves 33 which cofiatten out in a transverse direction before assuming a curved shape in the longitudinal direction as they pass around the roller. For supporting the belt upon the face of the roller 19 a pair of ribs 20 are provided to engage the exposed portions 17 of the face of the belt. The area excluding ribs is recessed to provide clearance so that the strips 12 may ride free on the.

roller. If it is desired, however, since there is no drag or sliding action between the face of the belt and the roller, the face of the latter may be plain or may be crown-shaped as the ordinary pulley. This latter arrangement might be preferred for conveying some types of sheet material which would be wrinkled to some extent due to the fact that the rubber strips 12 would press the plane of the sheets into the recessed portions of the roller somewhat. However, inv

ordinary circumstances Where the rubber strips 12 are relatively thin, no difliculty will be experienced in employing the type illustrated.

It will be observed that the support member is cut away adjacent the roller 19 so that the latter may engage the belt 10. The horizontal section fof the conveyer may be extended any desired distance and provided with any suitable dis' charge or transfer arrangement. In the illustration the horizontal section connects with another vertical section extending downwardly to 'another direction changing roller 18. Although not included in the illustration a discharge arrangement similar to the inlet provided at the entrant end of the conveyer may be employed. The belt is returned to the inlet end of the conyeyer over an additional pair of rollers 18. It will be observed that, since the rollers 18 engage the back plain surface of the belt, they are not provided with a special surface but may be ordinary crowned rollers.

In Fig. 3 a cross-sectional view of another form of this invention is illustrated. In this form a belt 21 has applied thereto a relatively wide strip 22 having high frictional qualities and arranged to extend longitudinally along the ,center of the belt. The belt 21 rides in a channel embodying a recessed portion 23 over which the strip 22 rides and shoulders 24 arranged to engage the lateral edges of the belt. The edges are free from the material 22 and present relatively small frictional contact with the support. The conveyer action of this embodiment is similar to that of Fig. 2 and might be preferred for conveying certain types of material particularly relatively heavy stiff sheets. Fig. 4 illustrates still another form of this invention in which a channel member 25 or support, without the outwardly extending side portions, is employed. This arrangement comprises a conveyer belt 26 having a plurality of strips of rubber or other material 27 applied to the lower face of the belt. The channel member 25 embodies a plurality of ridges 28 separated by grooves or recesses 29. The ridges 28 are suitably spaced apart to engage the body portion of the belt intervening between the strips 27 so that the belt is carried with the strips of rubber material out of engagement with the support. The belt is suitably guided along the support by the rollers at the respective ends of the vchannel sections and also by the centering effect of the messages riding between the belt and the support. A roller 31 is illustrated engaging the conveying surface of the belt 26. The roller 31 may be either a plane surface crown roller or it may embody ridges 32 and operate to form substantially the same type of belt engaging surface as provided by the chanv' nel member 25. Beyond the roller the chan-- nel member 25 is bent slightly away from'the belt so as to provide a space for the front edge of the sheets to enter the channel section as they leave the roller 31. It Iwill be observed that with this arrangement the sheets of material being conveyed are not held bent upward along the edges as is the case in connection with the foregoing embodiments. is particularly advantageous for conveying relatively rigid sheets of material such as cardboard and envelopes, particularly when thev envelopes are of fairly thick material. The ribs along'the support or channel member 28 provide line engagement with the material being conveyed and form creases even though slight, still suicient to prevent the material from working itself sideways out of the conveyer as it is being carried along the channel. The strips of rubber or other material 27 form elements of substan- This arrangement tially high frictional contact with the material and thereby more eiectively convey the material than would be accomplished with theY ordinary plane surface belt. When the belt is raveling along the portion of the channel in which no material is present, the exposed portions of the belt which have a relatively small i coefficient of friction ride upon the ribs 28 and the possibility of soft material from being accumulated'on the chamiel.

From the foregoing description it will be seen i that a drag conveyer arrangement has been provided in which a belt is employed having portions ofthe conveying surface of the belt which engages the material to be conveyed composed of a material having a relatively high coefficient of friction with the material and at the same time other portions of the vbelt vsurface composed of material having a relatively low coefficient of friction and which surface acts as' the supporting or riding surface of 'the belt. It will also be observed that the conveyer channel provided for cooperating with this belt embodies ribs or raised portions in its surface for engagingV the riding surface of the belt. At the same time the channel is recessed between its ribs or raised portions so that the conveying surface ofthe belt embodying the relatively high frictionV material is carried free by the channel or support member. vides the maximum conveying action` upon the material to be conveyed and at the same time the minimum frictional drag upon the conveyer support minimizing the amount of power required to drive the conveyer. It will further be observed that the materials employed for constructing the belt are not restricted to any particular form, but may be designed to suit the conditions under which they are to be utilized.

While this invention has been illustrated as employed in connection with simple forms of drag conveyers, it is to be understood that the structure may be employed to include double faced belts and other arrangements known to those skilled in the art.

While this invention has been shown in but three forms, it will be apparent to those skilled Such an arrangement pro*-V inthe art that it is not so limited but is susplaced ther-cenas are` imposed by the prior art or sety forth inthe appended claims., n WhatI claim is: Y

1.v The combination of a belt for drag-conveyers. having: a material4 engaging surface embodying; longitudinally extending, rubbery areas separated, by interveningrspaces and a support arranged to engage the belt along said intervening spaces. l

2. The combination of a belt for dragj conveyershaving a body composed Yof a relatively low frictional material, a support for said belt embodying longitudinally extending spaced runners arranged to engage the belt along spaced lines, saidV belt embodying strips of rubbery material secured.theretol in suitableI position to travel in the space interveningbetween said-runners.

3. vA drag-.conveyor comprising a belt having a face kembodying longitudinally extending strips Zzof material having a surface of relatively high coefficient of :friction bordered by areas having a surface of relativelylow coefficient of friction and a support` having-a surface over which the beltv travels, said surface being provided .withf longitudinally extending raised portions arranged toeng-age the-areas of the belt having low coefficient of friction, thereby said belt travels. on the support `with a minimum friction.

k4.' 'A drag conveyercomprising a belt having 3,41; apface embodying areas `of relatively high coefficient of friction bordered by areas of relativelylow coefficient of friction and a support member having longitudinally extending raised portions. arranged to form runnersv underneath doggthe. loW frictional areas of the belt, the area 4of said'support between said raised portions being recessed so that the high frictional areas ofthe belt surface travel free of the support.

YV. A dragl conveyer for sheet material com- 7prising a'longitudinally extending support member embodying upwardly extending ribs arranged .to make contact With the sheet material` alonga fractional portion of its surface, a con-` veyerbelt` arranged totravel valong said support 59:-and convey the sheets between it and the supportfbyfrictional engagement with the sheets, saidbelt, having a conveying' surface embodying longitudinally extending strips. of material of a high frictional coefficient, said stripsbeing disposed on the surface of the belt so as tolie between theribs of the support when the-belt is in conveying'ppositio'n upon the support whileat the' samev time engaging-a portion of the. sheets Ofmateral ,extending betweeny the ribs of the 69,;support-as they are carried therealong,` the intervening areas between said .strips comprising a materialV of relatively low coeiicient of friction and' arranged. to ride along said ribs to provide thelslid'ing surface of the belt.

` prising supportingareas suitably spaced to make contact Withythe belt along said, border areas.

7. The combination,` of a belt for dragV conveyersv having an engaging surface comprising an area of relatively high coefficient of friction arranged, to extend longitudinally of the belt, said: engagingr surface being bordered by areas of rel.- ativelylow coefficient of friction, and a longitudinally extending support vfor said belt com.- prising supporting areas suitably spaced to makev a contactwith the belt along'said border areas, said support embodying arecessedbottom portion to provide clearance. between the support. and the area of said belt having relatively high coeiiicient of friction.

8. The combination in a drag conveyor of a belt having a conveying surface comprising spaced longitudinally extending stripsv bordered 1Q@ by longitudinally extending recessedareas and Y a. guidev roller for said belt` embodying ribs on. its surface arranged to'engage the recessed portions of the belt, said ribs being .of such height as to hold the strips Yof the conveying surface of the belt out of engagement with the face of vthe roller as the belt passes thereover.

9. lIn a belt conveyor the combination of a belt having body composed of material suitable to` provide tensile strength tothe belt, one or more 113; strips vof rubbery material secured to the conveying surface ofthe belt and spaced so asto eX- pose the strips of the belt body at their borders,l and a guide roller adjacent the conveying surface of the belt, said roller embodying circum- 115 ferential ribsV separated by recesses and suit ably spaced to engager the exposed body portion of the belt so thatthe rubbery surfaces ride bethe surface -of Y the.v

' latter` area.

l1.l In a drag; conveyer for sheetmaterial, the combination-of a support, a belt for conveying material-alongsaid support, a portion. of said belt g,

Vlow frictional surface and supporting the belt in 135,;

such a. manner thatA the high frictional surface`r travelsv freefrom, engagement. withA the support.

PAUL J.y BIRKMEYER. 

